My good friend Adam popped by the house today (he's a new vegan and since he's always been an awesome cook his skills have transferred over nicely) to show me how easy it is to make my own Seitan. Seitan is made from wheat gluten and if you're lucky enough to be able to eat gluten like I am then it's a fantastic source of vegan protein. It's also very versatile, can be made into a loaf like we did and sliced as thin or thick as you want or it can be rolled into balls (like meatballs) or other shapes. It also takes on the flavour of whatever you spice it with so it can be used for pretty much any type of dish as a meat substitute. I've had Seitan many times in vegan restaurants, most recently in a mock "beef" dip sandwich at the Cornbread Cafe in Eugene Oregon. Sliced super thin and curled on the right bread with a dipping gravy it's pretty convincing (at least as far as I can remember what a beef sandwich used to taste like). It also has a very dense chewy or stringy texture which is very satisfying. It's also a very affordable and simple food to make and it's nice to shake up life from Tofu and Tempeh.

To make a loaf like we did just follow the basic recipe below. Remember you can substitute the BBQ sauce and garlic for other spices.

1 and 1/2 cups of Gluten Flour1/2 cup of Chickpea Flour3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast1 Cup Vegetable Broth1 clove of Garlic 1/2 a cup of BBQ Sauce4-6 cups of Water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

Mix both flours with BBQ sauce, nutritional yeast and garlic (minced)

Mix vegetable broth with water in separate bowl

Add 1 cup of broth mix with the flour mix until you are able to form a gooey ball of dough

Let sit for 5-10 minutes in fridge

Wrap dough loosely in cheese cloth

Place in glass casserole dish and pour remaining broth/water mix around the dough to have liquid for it to bake in

Place in oven for 1-2 hours depending on how firm you want the loaf. The longer you leave it in the firmer it will be.

Each 100 grams of Seitan has about 75 grams of protein which is amazing. It also has about 14% of your daily calcium and 28% of your daily iron requirements. The nutritional yeast adds some B12, B6, Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Folate and Magnesium to your nutritional life.